Social

Religion

Many middle-aged men and women show a greater interest in church and church-related activities than they did when they were younger, though this interest may be for reasons other than religious ones. For example, many middle-aged people, especially women, who have more free time and fewer family responsibilities than they formerly had, find that religious activities fill their needs ...

Loneliness

The second almost universal family-life hazard to good adjustment in old age is loneliness. Even when grown children live nearby, the elderly person’s contacts with them may be only occasional, and their companionship far less than was the case when the three-generation household was more usual than it is today.

A radical change in the self-concept at any age and for any reason is likely to lead to a breakdown in the personality structure of minor or major severity. Advancing age and its pressures bring an increase in personality breakdowns and in the number of individuals committed to mental institutions.

The fourth criterion that may be used to assess the kind of adjustment elderly people make is the degree of self-satisfaction or happiness they experience. According to Erikson, old age is characterized by either ego-integrity or despair. When the achievements of the elderly have come up to the standards they set for themselves earlier, so that the gap between their ...

Quality of Behavior Patterns

The first criterion that can be used to assess the kind of adjustments elderly people make is the quality of their behaviour. As was pointed out earlier, there are two different and contrasting theories of successful aging: the activity theory and the disengagement theory. According to the activity theory, men and women should maintain the attitudes ...

How successfully men and women will adjust to the problems arising from the physical and mental changes that accompany aging and from the changes in status that occur at this time will be influenced by many factors, some of which are beyond their control. The most important of these factors are given and briefly explained in below:

Some Factors Influencing ...

Personality Changes

The third criterion that may be used to assess the kind of adjustments elderly people make is the degree and extent of change in personality. It is popularly believed that all old people, regardless of their younger personality patterns, develop into ogrelike creatures who are mean, stingy, quarrelsome, demanding, selfish, self-centered, egotistical, and generally impossible to live with ...

Successful adjustment to adult life can be measured in terms of three criteria: achievements, satisfaction, and personal adjustments as reflected in the individual’s personality. All three are so closely interrelated that one alone is inadequate to assess the individual’s adjustment.

Achievement

Normally, adulthood is a time of achievement. Adults usually reach the peak of their achievements between the ages of ...

Financial Adjustments

The third major adjustment problem in marriage is financial. Money or lack of it has a profound influence on adult’s adjustments to marriage. Today, as a result of premarital experience in the business world, many wives resent not having control of the money needed to run a home, and they find it difficult to adjust to living on ...